The One Minute Geographer: The Great Plains — The Poverty Line

The ten counties with names in Red have the 10 highest percentages of persons in poverty; the 10 with names in Black have the smallest percentages. Base map from twelvemilecircle.com. County names and line added by the author.

In today ‘s post we’ll look at “The Poverty Line” on the Magical Meridian. This line is a reflection of the fact that there is distinct gradient of higher income in the north to lower income in the south. Rates of people in poverty reflect that trend. On the map the 10 counties with their names in black have the lowest poverty rates; those in red have the 10 highest poverty rates.

County names in Red on the map. Data from US Census; chart by the author.

The counties of the Great Plains are primarily rural, so incomes are generally below the national average of $62,843 in 2019. I chose to make the map showing percentages of people in poverty, which of course is strongly related to median household income.

Generally, the ten lowest poverty counties are the highest income counties and vice versa, but not always. Only four counties have incomes above the national average. Stanley County, SD, part of the cluster of counties around South Dakota’s capital of Pierre in Hughes County, has the highest income on the meridian strip (on chart below).